East Penn Duracell battery failure in one year

[willbur]

I'm curious does anyone know where you can get car battery made with new lead. Place or brand?

Had a work associate who went to Pep Boz to buy a "virgin lead" battery. The whole parts counter laughed at him and that no one ever came in looking for that klnd of battery

 

[thescreensavers]

This is why brand means little these days, I buy based on warranty length.

 

[Mcbeem5]

Seems like all batteries are junk these days. I was getting them for the construction company from a local battery mart. Had so much trouble that I switched to orileys batteries. Those were worse!

I have had amazing luck with both Duralast batteries and Everstart Max ,which were both marked Johnson controls. The Duralast was pulled from daily driver pickup 8 1/2 years old still started motor in winter,but was kind of slow turnover speed.My muscle car has a Everstart Max stamped 4/13 date ,still starts 350 chev.motor driven in summer only.I might replace this summer as voltage I just took Read 12.47 My other vehicle came with an Interstate Batt. at 8 years old I just replaced that one voltage was 12.51 Was still starting OK.

 

[proveitwithdata]

I guess sample size of 1 is enough for me to never use an east penn battery again....
/s

If we see more reports of battery quality declining on the lower end, that might move the needle toward EP Bad.

 

[f355spider]

Car wouldn't start the other day. No dome lights, dash lights, nothing. It had started just fine a few hours earlier. Roadside assistance came and it started with a jump. Guy connected his tester and it said the battery was bad. This was a Sam's Club Duracell 24F I installed in Dec 2022 (mfg sticker date was Nov 2022).

Hauled the battery to Sam's Club and it also tested bad on their machine. They provided a new Duracell under the free replacement warranty.

This was my first time experiencing premature battery failure like this. I guess stuff happens, even with a reputable mfg such as East Penn.

Was this a flooded battery? I experienced the same thing a few years ago on two in a row East Penn H8 group 49 sold by Batteries Plus. Gave up and bought an AC Delco AGM H8 Group 49. Five years later, it is still testing over its rated 900 CCA

 

[Sayjac]

Since I mentioned in initial post that I purchase a Duracell 51R at Sam's thought I'd put it on the Ancel BA101 today and see what it said about its condition. I purchased/installed it two years ago end of next month, battery made same month. Cost me $120 plus tax. You can see the result of testing for yourself. Still, very good to go, and hasn't seen the NoCo 2amp charger in at least 3 weeks, maybe longer. Jumped off a Tahoe with battery that wouldn't start on Thursday. No problem. Temp currently ~50F. First reading used CCA reference after surface charge removed. One member said need to compare CCA at 32F or lower, so second test shown using CA number. Thought @bbhero might be interested since he's a booster of East Penn batteries and big reason I chose Duracell as opposed to then equal priced JCI Everstart Maxx. The EP Duracell working well for me on 2.4L Accord..

 

[willbur]

You will get new lead in an Odyssey battery, however many people are not willing to pay $100 or more for that feature.

XS Power claims new lead. too. Premium batteries used in racing

 

[SHOZ]

50/50 of whether the problem was actually from the battery or the vehicle. You'll find out if it repeats it might be the vehicle.

Or the installer who torqued the post when tightening the clamps causing leaks.

 

[Nukeman7]

Who makes Caterpillar's batteries?

Their photos of the group 24F and 35 size batteries looks identical to a no-maintenance East Penn battery.

However, images of other group size CAT batteries appear to be made by different manufacturers.

 

[JimPghPA]

If you go to the caterpillar battery website and read the information they give about how their batteries are tested and constructed it very well may be that their batteries are built to a higher quality than other battery.

 

[The Critic]

Since I mentioned in initial post that I purchase a Duracell 51R at Sam's thought I'd put it on the Ancel BA101 today and see what it said about its condition. I purchased/installed it two years ago end of next month, battery made same month. Cost me $120 plus tax. You can see the result of testing for yourself. Still, very good to go, and hasn't seen the NoCo 2amp charger in at least 3 weeks, maybe longer. Jumped off a Tahoe with battery that wouldn't start on Thursday. No problem. Temp currently ~50F. First reading used CCA reference after surface charge removed. One member said need to compare CCA at 32F or lower, so second test shown using CA number. Thought @bbhero might be interested since he's a booster of East Penn batteries and big reason I chose Duracell as opposed to then equal priced JCI Everstart Maxx. The EP Duracell working well for me on 2.4L Accord..

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707cca is unusually high for a battery rated for 500cca. I am not disputing the condition of the battery, but rather, I question the accuracy of the figures provided by your tester.